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CALOOSA WINNIES
April 2008 Outing
Springtime in Florida! The fragrance of orange blossoms
in the air greeted the Caloosa Winnies & Spacecoast Winnies for a combined
campout in Sebring, Florida. Buttonwood Bay RV Park was the location for our
weekend April 3 – 6, 2008. A total of 31 coach families attended. Hosts for
the event were Bob & Jackie Coy, Bob & Chris Ross, Al & Cathy Goebel,
Charlie & Ellen Zucker, Jerry & Nancy Miller. Thursday evening we all met at
the Rec Hall for Happy Hour and to review the agenda for the weekend.
Several guests were in attendance and we were delighted to have them with
us! Jim & Merrelyn Brand, Ed & Gloria Daubel from New York, Larry & Betty
Ireland, Ron & Betty Kunze, Bob & Sherry Paszko from Michigan, Ed & Pat
Tyndall. President Jerry Miller welcomed the guests, members of each
chapter, and everyone in the group introduced themselves. Spacecoast
Winnies members in attendance were Paul & Mary Ragona, Don & Diane
Hawthorne, Ken & Joanne Buckley. At 5:00pm we caravanned to Golden Corral
Restaurant for a wonderful buffet dinner. The park had Bingo for the evening
and some of our members joined in for the fun! Others gathered to play cards
and enjoy the nice evening!
Friday morning the “host cooks” were up bright and
early preparing a Pancake Breakfast – even our guest Ed Tyndall was swinging
a mean spatula flipping those pancakes! After everyone had their fill of
breakfast, it was time to gather the preappointed teams together for the
Scavenger Hunt! Each team was given a list of items to collect from the park
residents, and assigned a territory within the park. The residents of the
park were warned ahead of time we would be looking for their “items” and
everyone involved had a great time! Some of the interesting things were a
resident emptied a soup can to donate that item on a team list, also another
person emptied a bottle of his favorite beverage so a team could have the
bottle! The deadline of 11:30am to be back at the hall for the accounting of
the “treasures” was met by everyone, and the points were tabulated. The 1st
place team was Joanne Buckley, Gloria Daubel and Betty Ireland, 2nd
place team was Al Goebel, Chris Ross & Ella Thurston, 3rd place
team was Jim Brand, Jackie Coy & Corinne Wightman! Awards were give to the
winners on Saturday evening! AND we recycled all the “treasured items”! A
special award titled “We Would Have Won If There Weren’t 17 Other Teams” was
given to Gene Hogan, Carol Mastro & Ed Tyndall!
Friday afternoon we traveled to nearby Highlands
Hammock State Park, one of the first state parks in Florida. 32 members took
a special tram ride, arranged by Chris Ross, and narrated by a Park Ranger.
Many visited the museum highlighting the work of the Civilian Conservation
Corps depicting the development of many state and federal parks beginning in
the 1930’s. Later that evening we enjoyed a wonderful buffet dinner at
Homer’s Restaurant in downtown Sebring. The remainder of the evening was
spent playing cards and games and enjoying the music provided by the band at
the campground.
Saturday morning a Potluck Breakfast was on the agenda,
with MANY wonderful dishes prepared by the members – no one went hungry! The
Caloosa Winnies business meeting was opened by President Jerry Miller at
9:30am with a prayer by Chaplain Bill Fuss. Jerry announced that 4 of our
guests decided to become members! We were DELIGHTED to welcome Jim &
Merrelyn Brand, Larry & Betty Ireland, Ron & Betty Kunze, Ed & Pat Tyndall
as members of the Caloosa Winnies! They were all given a rousing
applause welcome!
The shuffleboard tournament was next on the agenda.
Jerry Miller assembled the teams and assigned courts and the games were
underway. Since we had all levels of skill in playing the game, we have the
“Caloosa Rules” of play which allowed everyone the chance to play the game
both experienced and non experienced. Later that evening prizes were awarded
to the winners!
The afternoon was free for exploring the local scenic
area, relaxing, napping, shopping or enjoying the pool area. About 4:00pm we
gathered for Happy Hour and our evening meal cookout. The “chefs” got all
the grills assembled and let the barbecuing begin! All the picnic dishes
were assembled in the rec hall and once again we had a wonderful meal
prepared by the best cooks around! Later in the evening Jerry Miller
presented the awards to the Shuffleboard Contest winners, 1st
place Chris Ross & Patrick Riley, 2nd place Sue Fuss & Charlie
Zucker, 3rd place Lorene MacGregor & Bob Ross. The winners were
presented with the appropriate ribbons! A special award titled “We Tried
Really Hard But It Wasn’t Our Day” was given to Jackie Coy & Ron Kunze!
Jerry Miller introduced the “cooks” for the weekend and applauded the hosts
for a great job well done! The rest of the evening the group enjoyed cards
and games and each others company!
Sunday morning breakfast was a variety of muffins,
bagels, donuts, fruit and beverages before we all said our goodbyes. Another
wonderful weekend of fun and fellowship was enjoyed by all!
The Caloosa Winnies extend an open invitation to anyone
visiting in our area to join us for a camping weekend! Check Who’s Inviting
Travelers for our schedule and consider yourselves invited!
Nancy Miller
239-574-2511
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